Return of the Fearsome Fangs! Original Airdate – February 20th, 2009
Fox, Vulture and Shark join the evil Shadow Clan in an attack on the ancient Wudang Temple and kill Master Wong Fei in a battle of flying arrows and martial arts. Flying swords, ninjas and the supernatural collide when Batman and
Bronze Tiger must face their former colleagues.
When the Terrible Trio steals the Wudang Totem and transform into unstoppable mystical creatures, it’s up to Batman and Bronze Tiger to save us all!
Written by Todd Casey
Directed by Brandon Vietti
Review by Andrew
Media provided by Warner Bros. Animation
Cast
Deidrich Bader as Batman Phil Morris as Fox / Jonah
Hex Gary Sturgis as Bronze Tiger Paul
Nakauchi as Wong Fei Eduardo Ballerini as
Jack/ Vulture
Music
Theme Written and Performed by Andy Strumer
Music by Michael McCuisition, Lolita Ritmanis,
Kristopher Carter
Images
Review
Starting off with the rarely used western hero Jonah
Hex, we find Batman in an anachronistic setting to fight off a gunslinger form of the Royal Flush gang – whose leader seems to be also be voiced by Deidrich Bader.
Strangely they never seem to notice Batman despite his only disguise being a small poncho and sombrero.
Apparently bright blue gloves and boots are common in these parts. Although fitting in with some of the most bizarre openings of the series, this segment holds incredible fun with one of the best animated horse chases I’ve ever seen. It really leaves you wanting more team-ups with Hex and Batman.
On the completely opposite of the spectrum, the story for the rest of the episode starts off in a scene that leaves you wondering if you accidentally popping in Kung Fu Panda. The
Terrible Trio – Fox, Shark and Vulture – have returned to animated form, last seen as pompous comrades from
Bruce Wayne’s millionaire-life in B:TAS. This time, however, they’re a band of misfit ninjas tormenting their old master, whom also taught Bruce as “the Bat” alongside this trio. This was a very nice inclusion to the show as we’ve seen very little of Bruce Wayne himself, so having his past training shown was a great bonus to the episode. Teamed up with Bats to take down the Terrible Trio is a never-before-animated hero named
Bronze Tiger, who also trained alongside Bruce and the
Terrible Trio in the past. Together, they fail to stop the Terrible Trio from retrieving the usual kung fu plot device; an ancient totem. The episode then delves into absolute weirdness as the Trio are mutated into creatures based on their personas, and later Batman and
Tiger.
After Bronze Tiger transforms into a
Tiger, and Batman transforms into Batmanbat or Manbatman as they engage in rather disappointing fight with the mutated trio and their unexplained shadow army. Although the episode is still interesting, the end fight is as said; disappointing. The individual fights are short-lived and ended too easily, heavily overshadowed by the immensely enjoyable horse-chase in the opening.
At the very least, though, you do have to appreciate the
Trio storyline for not being afraid to kill off another person, especially with the slow method in which the character is killed. Still, it is definitely one of the lesser episodes of the show.
